Trump thinks he has UK ‘over a barrel' on trade deal

Donald Trump’s new administration believes it has Sir Keir Starmer’s government over a barrel” on trade as Britain becomes increasingly reliant on a US deal, insiders have told The Independent.

- DAVID MADDOX

Senior sources in the US president’s team claimed the UK had no choice but to seek a trade agreement after the prime minister said his government’s success would be judged primarily on economic growth.

With Britain’s relations with the EU strained following Brexit, and only a modest investment deal secured on Rachel Reeves’s recent trip to China, one Trump aide said it was time “to remind Starmer who holds all the cards in this relationship”.

It comes as the new Trump administration considers its threat of rejecting Lord Mandelson’s credentials as UK ambassador to the US. There has also been a bruising experience over attempts to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius before the inauguration, which the UK government was forced to back down on.

The US has long wanted the UK to lift its ban on chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef, a move former UK ambassador to the US Lord Darroch warned would destroy British farming.

At the weekend, Sir Keir conceded that he wanted some kind of trade deal with America, while UK chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, said there were “plenty of good deals to be done”.

But worryingly for Downing Street, Mr Trump used his presidential acceptance speech to repeat his plans to plough ahead with tariffs.